Overview – Sustainability when driving

Sustainability when driving - Audi has an eye on all processes: The four rings are investing in charging infrastructure, driving the expansion of renewable energies and analyzing the lifecycle of their models to reduce even more emissions.

Recent News

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Circular economy: Audi secures strategic and cost-efficient supply of recycled raw materials - MaterialLoop: Audi is establishing a return concept for recyclates from end-of-life vehicles
Sustainability
04/04/2025

Circular economy: Audi secures strategic and cost-efficient supply of recycled raw materials

Audi reaches a milestone and continues to drive forward the circular economy in the automotive industry. The company wants to increase the use of secondary materials in vehicles where it is technically feasible and makes ecological and economic sense. The aim is to increasingly use raw materials for new purposes after their initial usage has ended. Audi has therefore been testing approaches to implement this in the MaterialLoop program since 2023. After initially focusing on technical feasibility, the company has now become the first car manufacturer to develop and implement an economically viable recycling concept for recyclates from end-of-life vehicles together with its partner TSR Resource. In this process, steel scrap from vehicles at the end of their life cycle is turned into high-quality post-consumer secondary material and secured for further use in the automotive supply chain.
Audi simulates global power grids to test EV charging - With 100 to 540 volts at its disposal, Audi uses the grid simulator to replicate power grids from around the world at its Ingolstadt site, enabling developers to test the charging performance of...
Sustainability
01/29/2025

Audi simulates global power grids to test EV charging

Whether with 110 or 230 volts or 50 or 60 hertz, at Audi in Ingolstadt, electric cars can now be charged as if they were in China, the United States, or in numerous other countries around the globe. At the new electric-charging test center at the Ingolstadt site, Technical Development is testing electric Audi models under the conditions that prevail in the various sales regions. The results are incorporated directly into the research and development of the vehicles. This means that customers always benefit from the best charging experience, no matter where they are in the world.
Against microplastics in wastewater - Johannes Neupert from TU Berlin (left) and Daniel Venghaus from GKD install an URBANFILTER. The filter is designed to reduce microplastics in the water cycle by up to 97%.
Sustainability
11/29/2024

Against microplastics in wastewater: pilot project started in Copenhagen

Each person consumes five grams of microplastics per week: This was the conclusion reached by the Australian University of Newcastle in 2019. The small plastic particles, up to five millimeters in size, enter the environment through food, cosmetics and washing clothes, for example, and into our bodies via the water cycle. In order to reduce the proportion of microplastics, the city of Copenhagen uses a special microplastic filter. It is intended to capture microplastics such as tire abrasion that is washed from the street into the sewage system. The filter is based on a funding project from the TU Berlin and the Audi Environmental Foundation. A filter structure that is specially adapted to the waste typical for the area of operation will be piloted in the city of Copenhagen from November and is intended to make a contribution to clean water.
Engineers of optimism: Audi Environmental Foundation looks back on 15 years of engagement - For 15 years, the Audi Environmental Foundation has been making an active contribution to environmental protection
Sustainability
10/23/2024

Engineers of optimism: Audi Environmental Foundation looks back on 15 years of engagement

The Audi Environmental Foundation defines “greenovation” as innovative technologies that either contribute directly to environmental protection or make an existing practice from the fields of research and the economy more environmentally friendly than before. Since 2009, the Foundation has initiated scientific and technical projects for a livable environment, conducted environmental education, and motivated people of every age to take action to protect our natural resources. At an evening of discussion with renowned astrophysicist Harald Lesch and time researcher Jonas Geissler, the Foundation looked back on its first 15 years of activity with around 300 guests at the Ingolstadt Cultural Center. Guests included Gerd Walker, Member of the Board of Management for Production and Logistics at AUDI AG and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Audi Environmental Foundation, and former ski racer Felix Neureuther, also a member of the Foundation’s Board of Trustees.

Lifecycle analysis

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Expansion of green charging

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Charging technology and infrastructure

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Audi simulates global power grids to test EV charging - With 100 to 540 volts at its disposal, Audi uses the grid simulator to replicate power grids from around the world at its Ingolstadt site, enabling developers to test the charging performance of...
Sustainability
01/29/2025

Audi simulates global power grids to test EV charging

Whether with 110 or 230 volts or 50 or 60 hertz, at Audi in Ingolstadt, electric cars can now be charged as if they were in China, the United States, or in numerous other countries around the globe. At the new electric-charging test center at the Ingolstadt site, Technical Development is testing electric Audi models under the conditions that prevail in the various sales regions. The results are incorporated directly into the research and development of the vehicles. This means that customers always benefit from the best charging experience, no matter where they are in the world.
Audi charging hub Frankfurt - Brand ambassador Gerd Schönfelder and Audi customer Uwe Herrmann.
Sustainability
03/05/2024

Charging without barriers at Audi: challenge accepted

When creating infrastructure for electric vehicles, it is important to remember people with mobility requirements. Audi brand ambassador Gerd Schönfelder, the most successful Winter Paralympian of all time, and Audi driver Uwe Herrmann have clear ideas on what charging without barriers and disability-friendly vehicle modifications should look like. Schönfelder lost his right arm and shoulder in an accident at the age of 19, while Hermann has been using a wheelchair since adolescence. While Schönfelder has been driving an Audi Q4 e-tron for the past 18 months, Herrmann (still) drives an Audi with a gasoline engine and is curious to hear about Schönfelder’s experiences. At the opening of the sixth Audi charging hub in Frankfurt am Main, the two men met up for a chat.
Audi charging hub Frankfurt - Easy-to-move swivel arms facilitate use.
Sustainability
03/05/2024

Audi charging hub in Frankfurt: easy, fast, and without barriers

Audi opens its sixth charging hub in Frankfurt am Main. At Orber Straße, the drivers of electric cars of all makes can charge their vehicles with up to 320 kW of power using four high-power-charging (HPC) stations. While their car charges, users can have an enjoyable experience at the adjacent Klassikstadt Frankfurt. Audi has partnered up with this enterprise located in a listed historical former factory that boasts an internationally renowned collection of vintage and modern classic cars and offers a range of services. Guests can choose from a wide selection of snacks, beverages, and hot meals and enjoy them in an attractive, comfortable setting. Moreover, all Audi charging hubs are designed to be barrier-free: a swivel arm, for which a patent has been registered, height-adjustable displays, and ample room for maneuvering – in a wheelchair, for example – make charging easy for all, including people with disabilities.
Audi charging hub Berlin - Jörg Haucke (right), Elias Hammer (left)
Technology
04/13/2023

“Electrifying” opportunities instead of charging boredom: New Audi charging hub in downtown Berlin

The brand with the four rings is opening a third Audi charging hub right in the center of Berlin. In the German capital, as in Nuremberg and Zurich, second-life batteries will act as buffer storage, and, like Zurich, the compact Audi charging hub with four quick-charging points will be used. At the site in Prenzlauer Berg, however, Audi is taking a different approach to the power hookup. This development is explained in this interview by Elias Hammer, who is the Audi Manager responsible for the rollout in Berlin and for the energy system integration for the Audi charging hub. Future users of the Audi charging hub in Berlin can look forward to an “electrifying wait” during charging instead of the usual boredom as the cooperation with Frischeparadies will mean the time can be put to good use. For Jörg Haucke, a Q4 e-tron customer living in Berlin, the Audi charging hub is the perfect solution for urban charging, with many large cities currently still lacking a quick-charging infrastructure.

Recyclates

Further information on the topic

Circular economy: Audi secures strategic and cost-efficient supply of recycled raw materials - MaterialLoop: Audi is establishing a return concept for recyclates from end-of-life vehicles
Sustainability
04/04/2025

Circular economy: Audi secures strategic and cost-efficient supply of recycled raw materials

Audi reaches a milestone and continues to drive forward the circular economy in the automotive industry. The company wants to increase the use of secondary materials in vehicles where it is technically feasible and makes ecological and economic sense. The aim is to increasingly use raw materials for new purposes after their initial usage has ended. Audi has therefore been testing approaches to implement this in the MaterialLoop program since 2023. After initially focusing on technical feasibility, the company has now become the first car manufacturer to develop and implement an economically viable recycling concept for recyclates from end-of-life vehicles together with its partner TSR Resource. In this process, steel scrap from vehicles at the end of their life cycle is turned into high-quality post-consumer secondary material and secured for further use in the automotive supply chain.
Pilot Project: Physical Recycling Makes Mixed Plastic Waste Recyclable - Quality assurance: employees from Materials Engineering examine plastic samples after a puncture impact test. In this test, the material is subjected to impact stress.
Sustainability
09/26/2022

Pilot Project: Physical Recycling Makes Mixed Plastic Waste Recyclable

Audi is promoting sustainable product development and wants to establish more and more cycles. Together with partners from science and industry, the company with the four rings is researching ways of improving material recyclability and saving primary materials. In collaboration with the Fraunhofer Institute, the manufacturer is now testing an additional method of recycling plastics and making them usable for mass production. As part of Audi Environmental Week, Audi employees will be focusing on recycling and many other ideas for a more sustainable company. This is the campaign’s second year and it is intended to promote networking, exchange, and interdisciplinary cooperation with the aim of improving Audi’s sustainability performance.
Pilot project glass recycling - Saint Gobain Glass produces new plate glass from the recyclate.
Company
04/25/2022

Pilot project started: Faulty car glass to be turned into new windowpanes for the Audi Q4 e-tron

Faulty car windows often go in the recycling bin when the cracked part cannot be fixed. A closed material circuit does not yet exist for damaged car glass. This is where Audi and its partner companies Reiling Glas Recycling, Saint-Gobain Glass, and Saint-Gobain Sekurit are now doing pioneering work as part of a joint pilot project. The partner companies want to turn the damaged auto glass into recyclable material for model production and have drawn up a multi-stage process for that purpose: using an innovative recycling process, the car windows are first broken into small pieces. Then all the non-glass impurities like glue residue are eliminated. The resulting glass granulate is melted down and turned into new plate glass. That plate glass is then turned into a new car window. If this pilot is successful, the windows that are produced this way will be used in models in the Audi Q4 e-tron series in the future.